The Desert of Arizona
Cloudy 53 Degrees
In the service business, you can basically choose to operate one of two ways:
You can either go get clients or you can bring them to you.
By now, we should all be clear that going to get clients puts you at a distinct disadvantage. In any negotiation, he who wants it least has the control. So you can see how broadcasting your desire for clients now makes things a little difficult. Plus, anything and anyone that feels pursued reacts accordingly by running away.
If you go get clients, you’ll definitely catch some of them, but you pay a price. And it’s an upward climb. Lots of effort.
If you choose the attraction route, then you have to have something that people want. And you have to know how to present it so that they start walking towards you.
If I had to describe these two approaches and compare them to modes of transportation, I’d compare the “going to get clients” approach to a taxicab.
The attraction model I’d compare to a train.
The taxicab driver shows up where and when he is needed. He picks the passenger (client) up. The passenger says where to go. That feels to me a little bit like it feels when your client perceives you as a “vendor.” That’s a person they pay to do what they are told.
The train engineer offers a completely different experience. The passengers go to the train. The passengers follow the schedule. The passengers hope they don’t miss it.
As you might guess, I’m partial to the train approach. It’s a great way to describe what it feels like to be an Incomparable Expert. You operate much like a train. There’s a natural attraction to want to get on.
The point of today’s letter is to understand which model you want to use.
You can’t drive a train and go pick up your client on a random street corner of the client’s choosing. As a train engineer, that would send you straight to remedial driver’s ed classes.
So you just choose one. I’m biased of course, but I see the miracle that is the power of attraction and I’ll never do it another way.
Do you want to chase or do you want to attract? Commit to one and focus on working that system.